Dreams of Yesterday
by William 'Thundergod' Nichols
Summary: Will the dream of yesterday save tomorrow for Ryoko? Part one is up (chapters 1&2).
1. Till Tomorrow Comes

"Tenchi Muyo!" and all characters herein are the property of Pioneer and AIC save those created by me. This is a fanfic, is not for profit, and does not express the views of Pioneer, or AIC.  
  
Tenchi Muyo! Dreams of Yesterday   
Part one chapter one: Till Tomorrow Comes   
  
In a distant place a woman sits on a simple bed. In her lap is a picture with a tarnished silver frame. One corner of the photo has been discolored by time and is torn. The old glass has begun to cloud and a spider web of cracks covers it. The picture below shows friends and family gathered around a new mother and father. The people in the picture look so happy and the clear spring morning was captured for all time. This is a far contrast from its current surroundings. Now the universe is a place of constant darkness and chaos. Now little remains of that happy family, much less the father and child. If only those days could return, was wished as a tear fell onto the broken glass. So much had been lost.   
  
"I need your help," comes a voice from the doorway. The woman places the picture on the bed and walks away. She glances back at the photo through teary eyes. Those days seem to be such a distant memory.  
  
***  
  
"Where is Ryoko!" screamed Ayeka as Sasami looked on. For the past half hour she had been looking for Ryoko, who was nowhere to be found. The fact was that she did not need Ryoko for anything at all. Tenchi was missing, and Ryoko was the most likely suspect for his disappearance. This was something that the princess could not tolerate.   
  
"I will reseal her in that damned cave if I have to!" said the frustrated princess.   
  
"Ayeka, calm down, please," begged Sasami as Ayeka plopped down on the couch.   
  
"How can I be calm when that she-devil is trying to seduce my Lord   
Tenchi!" said Ayeka as she crossed her arms. "Just because she dragged him back to this dimension does not give her sole rights to his affections," pouted   
Ayeka. Sasami could tell that nothing could change her sisters' mood short of Tenchi proposing to her on the spot.   
  
"Lets go Ryo-ohki," said Sasami, shaking her head. The little cabbit meowed and followed her friend back to the kitchen.   
  
As Ayeka pouted a tear ran down her cheek. 'Maybe,' she thought,   
'Maybe.' All became clear to her and dashed out of the house. Sasami looked around the corner, wondering what all the commotion was about. What she found was an empty room and the back door standing wide open.  
  
"Ayeka?" she asked into the void. The only reply was the sound of the wind and a wisp of cherry blossoms.  
  
***  
  
Ryoko smiled as the warm spring sun played across her face. The cherry trees were in full bloom and she loved the smell of their sweet blossoms. She ran a hand through her powder blue hair as she watched the clouds play across the sky. She giggled imagining the shapes of Ryo-ohki and Sasami float effortlessly across the sky. Only to be that free, she thought.  
  
"Hold still now," ordered Tenchi, who was sketching busily. Ryoko resumed her pose, after sticking her tongue out at him. Tenchi smiled at her gesture and kept sketching. "I'll never finish if you keep moving," he said feigning annoyance. Ryoko seemed different since his return from Haruna's world. She acted like she trusted him implicitly. His pencil made a scratching sound as it repeatedly crossed the paper, capturing her lines and curves. 'If I could only draw my feelings,' Tenchi thought.   
  
"There," he said placing the final touches on the sketch. Before he could show off his handy work Ryoko phased in behind him.   
  
"Let me see," she said playfully as she wrapped her arms around his neck.   
Tenchi blushed as Ryoko propped her chin on his shoulder. "I love it," she said as she examined the portrait. It was an amazing resemblance she thought.   
Tenchi's pencil had seemingly captured her spirit, her love for life. Ryoko felt that a bit of her and Tenchi was alive in the drawing.  
  
"You have a wonderful talent," she said as she shifted around to sit beside him. "Sign it."  
  
"What?" asked Tenchi looking a little confused.  
  
"I want you to sign it. All artists sign their work." Tenchi shrugged and scribbled his name down the side just before Ryoko took the sketchbook from him.   
  
"I'll keep this forever," she said carefully removing the page from the book. Tenchi smiled and looked into her golden eyes. 'No picture that I can draw can do you justice,' he thought to himself. His drawing seemed to give Ryoko this much joy. He was amazed that something this simple could bring Ryoko so much pleasure. 'I have to tell her,' he thought to himself.   
  
"Ryoko," he began.   
  
"Yes," she whispered. After a moment of silence they leaned closer. His arms found hers and time began to stand still. Just as their lips touched, all hell broke loose.   
  
***  
  
"I knew that I would find that devil-woman trying to seduce you Lord Tenchi!" said an infuriated Ayeka, and it would take a miracle to calm her down. The war maybe ending, but Ayeka was determined to fight to the man.   
  
"Now calm down, Ayeka," said Tenchi rubbing his head. When   
Ayeka had found him and Ryoko in near embrace Tenchi had fallen off the stone that he and Ryoko had been sitting on.   
  
"Be calm, how can I be calm! She was going to defile you!" screamed   
Ayeka, waving her hands frantically. "She is beneath a person of your status," finished Ayeka, looking down on Ryoko. She honestly believed what she had just said. "I will not let Lord Tenchi fall victim to a person of such loose morals.   
Honestly Lord Tenchi, I thought that you were better than this."   
  
Now Ryoko's temper was building. She could only take so much. To insult her was one thing, but to insult Tenchi that was unforgivable. "Listen Princess," she said gritting her teeth. "You are not Tenchi's lord and master. He is not your lap dog and does not have to come running every time you call him! Tenchi is a grown man and does as his heart tells him. He does not need to be reprimanded by a spoiled bitch." Ryoko's anger was justified. She clenched her fists as the first tear slid down her cheek.   
  
"How dare you speak to me in such tones!" snipped Ayeka. "I am the first crowned princess of Jurai, and you will treat me with the respect that such royalty demands!"  
  
"Your royalty all right," interjected Ryoko. "You're a royal pain in my ass!" She wiped the tear away as her eyes narrowed in on Ayeka. "Now if you do not leave me and Tenchi alone, you will regret it."  
  
"Is that a threat?"  
  
"No. It's a promise. And I keep my promises." With that Ryoko formed her energy sword. Instantly Ayeka summoned her guardians. Dozens of small logs floated around her as her headpiece began to glow. Raw energy crackled through the air as they both took offensive stances.  
  
"Ayeka! Ryoko! Calm down! Listen to me please! Both of you!" begged   
Tenchi. While Ayeka and Ryoko traded insults Tenchi had been trying his best to ease the situation. Neither one of them had heard a word of what he had been saying. His words of reason were lost to them.   
  
"Die demon!" screamed Ayeka, lunging toward Ryoko as Ryoko started towards Ayeka. That's when Tenchi stopped them. Both of them were frozen in their tracks.  
  
"Now that I've got your attention, listen." They both looked at him, rubbing their cheeks and feeling a little bit ashamed.   
  
"I thought that the two of you were better than this, but I guess I was wrong." Tenchi breathed deeply as he ran a hand through his hair. "When you two get angry you loose control, and sight of any reason." Ayeka and Ryoko knew the truth in what he was saying.  
  
"Ayeka I appreciate your concern for me, but I was not in danger. You have to understand that I will not just vanish every time you lose sight of me.   
And please, its hurts me every time you insult Ryoko like that. The same goes for you, Ryoko. No more insults please, for my sake." Ayeka started to say something but Tenchi continued on.   
  
"And Ryoko, I appreciate you standing up for what you feel, but I can speak for myself. Ayeka was just concerned, but that doesn't justify her actions, or yours. If either you of had been listening to me in the first place, you wouldn't be standing there holding your faces now. You could have killed one another just then. Would you really be happy if the other was dead? Is that what you want? Answer me."   
  
They just stood there. Ryoko tried to say something, but she could not form the words. All she could answer him with was tears.   
  
"I love the both of you...but not in the same way." These words pierced their hearts. Feelings of jealousy and doubt arose in each of them as they imagined Tenchi in the others arms.   
  
"If some one ever harmed either of you I would hunt them down across time and space. Now how do you think I would feel if you killed each other? Would that really make me love you more than the one lying dead? Would that me happy, that you killed each other to prove your love for me? Not to sound selfish here, but think of that the next time you try to kill each other."  
  
"What are you saying, Lord Tenchi?" asked Ayeka, tears welling in her eyes. Ryoko felt the same way, but she could not speak.   
  
"I am saying that we all need think about what has happened here today, and how we will live tomorrow as a result of it. We all need to grow up a little."   
  
With that he picked up his sketchbook and walked towards the shrine.   
Ayeka started after him, but ran down the hill in tears, leaving Ryoko alone in the clearing. She phased in on top of the rock she had been posing on earlier.   
She looked at her portrait lying on the ground. It had been smudged when Ayeka startled them. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, and cried. She did not cry over the picture, but over what had just happened. For the first time she realized how much her fighting with Ayeka hurt   
Tenchi. To her it was nothing because she knew that Ayeka couldn't really hurt her, save giving a nasty bruise or two. But it obviously hurt Tenchi. She had never thought of what he would feel if they had seriously hurt each other. The thought sent a shiver down her spine. She would never intentionally hurt   
Tenchi, but her fighting had been hurting him unintentionally for years now.   
  
Ryoko never made it to dinner that night. She sat and cried on that rock till well past sunset. She had never imagined how much her fighting with Ayeka had hurt Tenchi. Now she realized the emotional anguish that she had been putting him through. She had hurt the man she loved and she could not bare it.   
All she had ever wanted was to share her affections with Tenchi, but after tonight could it still be possible? Could Tenchi still have any feelings for her at all after what she and Ayeka had put him through? She just did not know. Ryoko just sat on that stone, wondering if she had ruined the best thing that had ever happened to her.   
  
"Maybe I should just leave," she said wiping the tears from her eyes. "All I do is cause trouble anyway." She looked towards the house. Dinner was over by now, and Ryoko figured that she had not been missed. "There just fine without me. I just need to think," she said to herself as she phased out of sight.  
  
***  
  
There was an uneasy quietness at dinner that night. No one dared ask about what had transpired on the hill earlier in the day. Every one just ate, not knowing just what to make of things. Ryoko's absence and Ayeka's demeanor said enough about the situation. Ayeka barely touched her food all night. To make matters worse Tenchi didn't even come to dinner.  
  
  
"I'm sorry Sasami," he said rubbing his forehead. "I just don't feel like eating right now." Ever since the afternoon's events he had been suffering from a rather painful headache. Washu had given him some pills, but they just did not seem to be doing the job. "Maybe later." Sasami sighed as Tenchi shut the door to his room. As she headed down the stairs she noticed Ayeka sitting on the couch. In fact she hadn't moved for several hours. She just sat there staring at the lake.  
  
"Ayeka, its dinnertime," she said. Ayeka just sat there, as if nothing had been said to her. "Where's Ryoko? Didn't you find her earlier?"  
  
"Yes," replied Ayeka, wiping a tear from her eye. "I found her." With that Ayeka got up and walked to the table.  
  
"What's up with her," asked Kiyone as Ayeka sat down at the table.   
  
"I dunno," said Mihoshi as she slurped her soup. Sasami was becoming worried about her sister. Ayeka just played with her food and did not even flinch when Mihoshi spilled the soy sauce on her dress.   
  
"It's okay," she muttered, wiping the stain. With Tenchi and Ryoko absent and Ayeka's silence, everyone was becoming worried. Needless to say this was a tense dinner.  
  
***  
  
"Why do I even bother," thought Ryoko as she sat in her cave. She had not been in this place for over three years. Not since the day that Tenchi had freed her. Now she found solace in her former prison. She sat there in the darkness trying to sort out her life.  
  
"I need someone to talk to," she said to her self. With that she phased in two. The doppelganger looked around for a moment before she realized where she was.  
  
"What's going on?" she asked herself. "Why did you separate us Ryoko?"  
  
"Relax Zero, this isn't permanent. I just need someone to talk to."  
  
"I see."  
  
***  
  
Tenchi lay in his bed staring at the ceiling. He did not come to dinner, even though his headache had finally gone away. All he could think about was what he had done to Ayeka and Ryoko. He had never struck either of them before, much less spoke to them so harshly. He had tried to reason with them, but in their rage they did not hear him. He panicked. It was a natural emotion he kept telling himself, but he had struck them. In a flash he had backhanded both of them. What was bothering him the most was the look in their eyes. Every time he closed his he could see Ayeka's and Ryoko's eyes staring at him. They looked so hurt, like their whole world had just collapsed around them. Then he realized something: it had. Both of their lives revolved around him. They had defended him and saved his life countless times before. They had followed him back in time and searched all of Japan to find him. Now he had destroyed their universes. He thought back to what he had said.  
  
"I love the both of you, but not in the same way."  
  
"How could I love either of them and treat them like that?" he asked himself. "How," he mumbled as a tear slid down his face.  
  
  
Ayeka had been eves dropping at Tenchi's door. She hadn't meant to at first, she just wanted to check on him. But as she began to leave she heard him talk to himself. Curiosity overcame her and she pressed an ear to the door. What she heard broke her heart.   
  
  
"I've got to stop hurting the girls," Tenchi mused out loud. "I keep hurting Ryoko because I haven't told her my true feelings. The longer I wait, the more I hurt her, and Ayeka. I'm hurting Ayeka because I haven't told Ryoko my feelings. She keeps trying to win my heart, but it is already taken. I can't keep this going. I love both the girls, and I don't want either of them to be unhappy. I love Ayeka, but not the same way I love Ryoko. They both mean so much to me."  
  
  
Ayeka turned her back to the door and slid to the floor. Her worst fears had just been confirmed. Tenchi loved Ryoko, and not her.   
  
"How could I have been so foolish," she started as she began to cry.   
She sat there for a moment until she heard Tenchi get out of bed. Ayeka scrambled down the hall, almost tripping over her own nightshirt. Tenchi slid his door open, looking down the hallway. He was certain that he had heard some one outside his door just then.  
  
"I need some one to talk to," he thought walking down the stairs. Ayeka quietly watched him go down stairs and disappear into Washu's lab.  
  
***  
  
"So Tenchi slapped you and now you think that he hates you?" asked Zero, looking very confused. For the past hour she had listened to Ryoko recount the days events as if she had not witnessed them herself. Zero let Ryoko carry on, knowing deep down that she had some off the same feelings of doubt. But unlike   
Ryoko Zero knew that Tenchi would have never stopped them unless he really did love them.  
  
"Basically."  
  
"How can we be the same person, you and me?" asked Zero shaking her head. "Can't you see that Tenchi loves you, as much as we love him?"  
  
"But he said he loves Ayeka too," replied a tearful Ryoko. Images of Ayeka in Tenchi's arms flashed through her mind, sending more tears down her cheeks.  
  
"Who was he going to kiss before this all started?" asked Zero with Ryoko's trademark devilish grin on her face.   
  
"He was going to kiss me," she said, her voice trailing off. At that moment Ryoko realized how silly she had been acting.  
  
"Bingo."  
  
"Lets go," said Ryoko wiping the last tears from her eyes. Zero nodded and the two became one once more.   
  
***  
  
"So that's what's been bugging everyone today," said Washu as she lay back onto her tasseled cushion. "I figured it was some thing along those lines, but I just wasn't sure." She could tell that Tenchi was worried about both of the girls, almost to the point of exhaustion. "They're big girls Tenchi, and they can accept your decision," said Washu trying to comfort him. "Just go to bed Lord Tenchi and things will calm down in the morning."  
  
"That's just it Washu, I can't sleep," he said running a hand through his hair. "Every time I close my eyes I see the girls, and when its not them its," he stopped trying to find the words.  
  
"What is it Tenchi?" she inquired.  
  
"It's a darkness: a horrible darkness with no light of any kind. Both of the girls are calling to me but I can't see them. I can't see any thing. The darkness is total, almost evil. I've never imagined anything as frightening as this before in my life."   
  
"Its just your nerves Tenchi. All of this stress is playing with your subconscious. Just try to relax and we'll talk more about this in the morning."   
Washu began wonder if this was related to the temporal anomalies that she had monitored earlier in the day.  
  
"Thank you Little Washu," said Tenchi as he walked out the door. "I appreciate you listening to me." After Tenchi left Washu returned to her bed, but Tenchi's nightmare kept bothering her.   
  
"I wonder if they're connected," she mused out loud before falling back to sleep.   
  
***  
  
Tenchi was startled to find Ryoko sitting on the couch when he came out of Washu's lab. Even more surprising was that Ayeka was asleep with her head in Ryoko's lap. Quietly Ryoko held a finger to her lips before she carefully laid Ayeka's head on a pillow. She phased out of sight only to appear next to Tenchi. Before he could say anything she wrapped her arms around him and teleported the both of them to the roof.   
  
"Now where were we," she began as he held her close.  
  
"I was going to." Tenchi didn't get to finish before Ryoko kissed him. "Do that," he smiled. This time Tenchi kissed her passionately. He and Ryoko sat there in their embrace for what seemed like an eternity.   
  
***  
  
The woman walked into what used to be a place of great discovery. Now it was a refuge of hope. Hope that the cursed events of the present could be erased in the past.   
  
"I need your help with the phase converters," said the person at the control panel. This was her place of discovery, or it used to be. Now it was the only place that was safe from the Darkness. "I only have power for one, maybe two more trips. If things can't be righted in this time, you may be on your own." The woman nodded. She thought back to the time her picture had been taken. How she held the child that was now lost, along with the man who was its father. She had to succeed, not for her, but for them. She reached into her pocket, and produced a piece of paper. She carefully unfolded it and looked at it. At rare smile crept across her face.   
  
"I understand," she said carefully folding the paper.  
  
"Then lets get to it."  
  
To be concluded. 


	2. I Found My Way to You

"Tenchi Muyo!" and all characters herein are the property of Pioneer and   
AIC, save those created by me. This is a fanfic, is not for profit, and does not express the views of Pioneer or AIC.  
  
Tenchi Muyo! Dreams of Yesterday  
Part one chapter two: I Found My Way to You  
  
In the dim light of the lab Ryoko double-checked the displays on the chronometric regulator. Its screens were filled with various bits of data, each one as crucial as the one before. The first time she had used this device was when everyone had traveled back to 1970. That time they had fought to save Achika from Kain, but that was many years ago. Too long, she thought to herself. Now she has come to hate this machine. To her it represents death and defeat. Five times before has she tried to right what had been unleashed upon the universe, and five times she has failed. Now Washu says that they only have power for one, maybe two more temporal incursions. Every thing has to be perfect. For his sake, and everyone else's.   
  
"Beta lock online, temporal matrix aligned, compensators balanced," she mumbled to herself as she moved to the next item on the checklist. Ryoko paused to wipe the sweat from her forehead, leaving a black smudge in its place. "Tenchi," she sighed, "I will get you back." Her thoughts drifted to happier times.  
  
***  
  
"Gather around everyone!" exclaimed Nobeyugi. For the first time in two years everyone was back at the Masaki house. Ayeka and her husband Prince Sagami was there, along with Sasami, the "ambassador" to earth. Major Kiyone had returned from her post at Galaxy Police headquarters, and Mihoshi, well Mihoshi was still the earth's resident officer.   
  
"I propose a toast, to Tenchi, Ryoko, and my first granddaughter,   
Aiko! May her life be full of joy and happiness." Every one raised their glasses as Ryoko held the newborn baby. Tenchi sat beside her and smiled at his beautiful wife and daughter. Aiko cooed as she grabbed her mother's finger. The baby had Tenchi's brown eyes and Ryoko's powder blue hair, not to mention hints of her mother's fangs.   
  
"Here! Here!" seconded Ayeka. "Prince Sagami and myself wish the best of fortunes to Lord Tenchi, Ryoko, and Aiko. My your path be bright." Once again glasses were raised as the proud parents glowed over their child.   
  
"Well mom," started Ryoko, "how does it feel to be a grandma?"   
Washu shot her an annoyed glance.  
  
"We'll have to talk about this 'grandma' bit Ryoko," she said with a playful smirk. Any misgivings she had disappeared as she watched her granddaughter. "Then again it's just fine."   
  
"Not bad for a demon child," said Ayeka with a playful grin as she held baby Aiko.  
  
"Watch it, dear," started Prince Sagami. "Lets not restart old rivalries now."  
  
"I know she's just kidding," retorted Ryoko, "besides she doesn't want me to kick her butt again." Tenchi sighed heavily as Ryoko and Ayeka traded sarcasms. Usually he would have been worried, but he knew it was all in good fun.   
  
"Lets take a picture!" said Nobeyugi while he set up his tri-pod.   
Everyone gathered around Tenchi and Ryoko. Ayeka and Sasami sat beside them on the couch while the rest stood behind or to the side.  
  
"Smile!" said Nobeyugi as the timer went off and the moment was captured for all time.  
  
***  
  
Ryoko was brought back to this damned reality by Washu's voice.   
  
"Ryoko, Ryoko!"   
  
"Yes Washu?" she replied with a heavy heart. In her nostalgia she had lost track of what she was doing.   
  
"Make sure the phase converters are properly aligned. The slightest error could throw you off by a decade or better."  
  
"I know, I know. I just." Ryoko's voice trailed off as a tear slid down her cheek.  
  
"I know how you feel Ryoko. Ever since the Darkness ascended, this life has been unbearable. Everyone we love has been taken from us, but we can restore the proper future."  
  
"But we've failed five times now. Every time we travel back the   
Darkness follows us and destroys another future."  
  
"I know she must be following our chronometric signature. I guess when you're a god you can do that." Washu wiped a little soot from her forehead. "This time I have a different strategy. Each time we've gone back it's been to the exact point of the Darkness' ascendance. The problem there is that by then it's too late. We have to go back further, to before its ascendance."  
  
"How much further?" asked Ryoko. She was beginning to understand what Washu was planning. "A week, a month, a year?"  
  
"The Darkness ascended because of a number of factors. Sasami's assimilation with Tsunami was just the final chapter. When Tsunami banished the darkness from her own soul twenty millennia ago it was sealed in an alternate dimension, a separate branch of space and time. One hundred years ago the first battle with Kain weakened that dimension when he was drawn into subspace. The second battle that we fought with him and Haruna's manipulation of space-time furthered weakened Darkness' prison."  
  
"But if we alter those events our very existence will be threatened," interjected Ryoko.   
  
"I'm not saying that we have to alter these events in any way. We have to learn from them," finished Washu with a grin.  
  
"Learn from them?" asked Ryoko.  
  
"Yes. We were a team on every occasion. No single individual can take credit for the out come, but each of us played a pivotal role. So you see that you alone can never defeat the Darkness. That's where we failed each time before. We have to go back to the point when we were our most cohesive. The point in time when our bond were the strongest."  
  
"That would be before Ayeka and Sasami left the earth."  
  
"Yes Ryoko. That's where you must go. You must band together with our past selves to defeat the darkness. I know that this creates a temporal paradox, but it is the only way to." Washu stopped as the lab was rocked by a low thud. Another shock wave followed it, this time causing dust to fall from the ceiling and the lights to flicker.  
  
"Damn it!" said Washu, dodging a piece of falling debris, "She's found us!"  
  
"How?" asked Ryoko as she hurriedly finished her checklist.  
  
"She must have read our chronometric signatures from our previous incursions and vectored the labs location in subspace. We've got to act know!"  
  
"What about you?" asked Ryoko as she strapped herself into the chronometric regulator.   
  
"I'll hold her off. Don't worry, if you're successful, this timeline will cease to exist."  
  
"And if I'm not?" asked Ryoko as the chronometric regulator began to spin.  
  
"Let's hope that you are." Ryoko nodded as the centrifugal force increased. A slight feeling of nausea came over her as she was pinned to her seat back. Another thud shook the lab. Sparks cascaded from over head, bouncing harmlessly off the force field protecting the regulator.   
  
"Chronometric particles have been generated and the warp field is stable. Good luck and Godspeed." Everything blurred for Ryoko as the temporal vortex opened and the boundaries of time and space melded. The last thing she saw was the Darkness crushing Washu's face then looking towards her. In a flash she was transported into the past, to a time before the Darkness ascended.  
  
***  
  
Morning came and Tenchi found himself on the roof of the house. After a brief moment of confusion he remembered what had happened the day before. He looked over and saw Ryoko asleep at his side. She looked so peaceful, so beautiful.   
  
"Good morning lover," she said as he moved a lock of her hair away from her eyes. "Tomorrow is today," she said with a smile.  
  
"I know. You'd better put me in my room before some figures out I'm not there."  
  
"Good idea. See ya' soon." With that she grabbed him and phased into his room setting him gently onto his bed. She blew him a kiss as she faded from sight. Tenchi smiled as he got out of bed. In the short time since he left the roof dark clouds had rolled in from the mountains. He lifted a vane of the window blinds and looked at the ominous mass. So much for a beautiful day, he thought.  
  
  
At the shrine Katsuhito had noticed the change in weather also. "I do not like this," he spoke to himself. His fears would be justified.  
  
  
Every one had just gathered for breakfast when the storm began.   
Thunder rolled across the mountains as lightening played across the heavens. The rain came and the wind howled.   
  
"What a yucky day," yawned Mihoshi as she walked dawn the stairs. "All it makes me want to do is sleep."  
  
"That's all you do anyway bubble brain," retorted Kiyone.  
  
"Oh yeah," Mihoshi yawned. A bolt of lightening as thunder boomed overhead illuminated the house. With a flicker the lights went out. Dark shadows danced around as Ayeka lit a candle.   
  
"I'll check the breaker box," said Tenchi finding a flashlight. Just as he turned it on the house shook violently.   
  
"What the hell?" said Ryoko as an object plummeted through the ceiling. By now everyone was confused. First the lights go out and now some one crashes through the roof, literally. As the dust cleared Tenchi shined the light on their unexpected guest.  
  
"My god," mumbled Kiyone. Everyone looked astonished at Ryoko, first the one standing among them; then at the one laying on the rain soaked floor.   
  
***  
  
"So that's my story," said the future Ryoko. Everyone was taken aback by living hell she had described. How could such a horrible future be possible? Washu just shook head in disbelief.   
  
"The Darkness was locked in a separate dimension of sub space.   
There is no way for her to emerge. It's just impossible. I should know, because I helped Tsunami banish her." The future Ryoko smiled slightly.  
  
"That's exactly what you said the first time we had this conversation. I can prove all of this to you. I can prove that am from your future, but." her voice trailed off as she looked at Ayeka.  
  
"What is it?" inquired Ayeka.  
  
"Nothing, its just been a while princess." The future Ryoko proceeded to produce a folded piece of paper from her pocket. "Here," she said to her younger self. Ryoko took the paper from her older self and carefully unfolded it. What she saw made her gasp for breath.   
  
"What is it?" asked everyone in unison. She handed the yellowed page to Tenchi who stared at it in disbelief. While the page was passed around Ryoko produced a similar page and unfolded it.  
  
"It's true," she mumbled. Tenchi took the two pages and placed them beside each other on the table. Apart from the aging factors, they were identical. On that table lay two copies of the picture he had sketched the day before.  
  
"I told you that I would keep it for ever," said the future Ryoko as tears began to roll down her cheeks. Ayeka looked at the pictures, than at Ryoko and her future counterpart. Then she looked at the ring that on the future Ryoko's hand. Her heart sank briefly, but a faint smile crept onto her face. She could have pitched a fit, but that was not needed now.  
  
"So how do we destroy this Darkness," asked Katsuhito. "If it is coming, we need to be ready." Everyone nodded in agreement. Before she could answer the storm that had been raging outside went eerily silent. The wind ceased to blow but the rain still fell, all too quietly.  
  
"She's here," said the future Ryoko. All eyes were fixed on the dark shadow creeping across the lake. "We have to stand up against it together," she continued. "That's all Washu told me before she sent me back this last time. If we do not stop it now, all of our futures die today."  
  
"I have an idea," said Washu, "and I'll need your help Kiyone." Kiyone nodded and they ran off to the lab.   
  
  
***  
  
The silent rain continued to fall as every one congregated out side. The dark mass had formed itself in front of the shrine stairs. From it emerged a dark figure, the exact negative image of Tsunami. As it walked the ground beneath its feet blackened and died. All life was absorbed by the Darkness, and only death and decay remained. Tenchi had drawn the hilt of the master key, waiting to form its blade. Both Ryoko's had formed their energy swords and stood waiting. Ayeka's headpiece glowed as her guardians floated around her. Even Mihoshi was ready; she was shouldering the Galaxy Police's biggest fusion cannon.  
  
"How brave of you," came the Darkness' seductive voice. "You all lived as one and now you shall die as one."  
  
"I'd gladly die here today if it will save their future," replied Tenchi as he formed the master key's blade. Everyone else's answer was unspoken but understood.  
  
"Very well then. I shall revel in your despair." That said the Darkness began her attack. Dark energy crackled from her fingertips as everyone ducked for cover. Rolling out of the way Mihoshi took a knee and fired off the fusion cannon. A beam of white-hot energy struck the Darkness squarely in the chest. This is all the Ryoko team needed. They unleashed a series of orange energy bolts that sent the Darkness reeling.  
  
"We make a good team," said the current Ryoko. Her counter part nodded as they dodged the Darkness' counter attack.  
  
"Petty fools," she said. "Such things can not hurt me."  
  
"But this can!" said Tenchi. With that he sent the Light Hawk sword flying into the Darkness. No one had noticed him ascend to this level. The darkness screamed as Tenchi reformed the swords hilt. The future Ryoko paused for a second. It has been too long Tenchi, she thought to herself as Tenchi stood resplendent in his blue and white Juraian robes.  
  
"Lord Tenchi!" screamed Ayeka, "if we combine our Jurai power we can stop her!" Tenchi nodded as Ayeka transferred her power to him. Exhausted from the transfer, she fell out. Fortunately Mihoshi caught her before she hit the ground. Tenchi couldn't believe what he felt inside of him. The power of earth and Jurai coursed through him. Seeing this the Darkness renewed her attack with even more ferocity. Tenchi dodged each blast skillfully and sent one of his on tearing into the Darkness. He was holding his own, but he could not keep it up forever. The two Ryoko's watched the man they loved fight valiantly to save their future.   
  
"Forgiver me," said the future Ryoko as she shocked her younger self, rendering her unconscious. She helped the lifeless doppelganger to the ground and stared at her. "You will never know the sorrow that I have known. And for that I envy you." She took the folded drawing from her pocket and placed it in the younger's hand. She ran her hand across the younger Ryoko's face. 'So innocent of all this damnation,' she thought to herself. 'Never again.'  
The Darkness was beginning to wear Tenchi down. Even with Ayeka's power he could not defeat this abomination. The future Ryoko looked at her wrists. Tenchi had given her gems back years ago, but that was her time and her Tenchi was dead, along with all of the others. Her thoughts drifted back to what Katsuhito had told her when Tenchi had given the gems back.  
  
  
  
"Those gems have the same qualities as the power of Jurai, only more concentrated. Even after seven hundred years of sustaining my life they are very potent. Never call upon their full power, for I fear that it would destroy you."  
  
  
"I have to take that risk," she said to herself, not for her, but for him. Ryoko closed her eyes and called upon the gems. In a burst of light she was enveloped in the same white robes that adorned Tenchi. She could feel the power inside of her; she could feel him.   
  
"We are one," she said forming a Light Hawk sword of her own. As she did the Darkness realized what had transpired.   
  
"So that's where the witch hid the power," she said changing her focus to Ryoko. "Very clever sending you here and know; very clever indeed. The only time the two Lights could be summoned." The future Ryoko charged into the Darkness headlong. Tenchi could barely see what was happening. He was bleeding from his forehead blurring his vision, but it looked like Ryoko was holding a Light Hawk Sword. He glanced over and saw his Ryoko lying on the ground and he realized that it had to be the future Ryoko. Ryoko caught the Darkness with the blade of the Light Hawk Sword, dissipating its arm. In a flash of light the future Ryoko teleported behind the Darkness, grabbing a hold of her.   
  
"Now Tenchi!" she cried. Tenchi nodded in understanding. He channeled all of his strength through the Light Hawk Sword and sent a beam of energy flying toward the Darkness.  
  
"Nooooo!" screamed the Darkness as the beam hit. "I will defy you!" she said through gritted teeth. The beam burnt white hot as it engulfed the Darkness and Ryoko. Ryoko felt the beam burn her flesh, but she held tight, not for herself, but for him.   
  
"I told you boy, I shall defy you," said the Darkness as the intensity of Tenchi's beam began to lessen. Right then another beam of plasma joined Tenchi's beam. The Darkness screamed in agony as the second beam engulfed the first.   
  
"I will not..." the being began before the final burst encompassed her entirely. After a moment the beams dissipated and the Darkness vanished from this plain forever. The future Ryoko remained floating in the spot where she had held the Darkness. After a moment she fell to the earth.  
  
"Where did that other shot come from?" asked Mihoshi as she helped Ayeka to her feet. To her surprise she saw Kiyone step out of the still smoking dimensional cannon.  
  
"I could get to like this gun," she said helping the present Ryoko to her feet.  
  
"What hit me?" she managed rubbing her forehead. Then she noticed the folded page in her hand. "Oh no," she said as she recognized the form Tenchi was holding. The future Ryoko was badly burned from her selfless sacrifice.  
  
"Hang on Ryoko," said Tenchi in tears. "Washu can help you." His tears rolled off his face and landed on her cheek. With the Darkness' demise the storm had cleared and blue sky shone through the breaking clouds. "Just hang on."  
  
The future Ryoko smiled as she saw the faces of her long lost friends and family. She was even glad to see Ayeka standing over her. "Don't worry about me, my future is no more." She stopped to cough as she felt herself begin to slip away. "I'm just glad that I saw you all again." With that she slipped from this existence. Tenchi held back his tears as her ethereal form faded from sight. All that remained of her was the simple ring she had been wearing. Tenchi held it to his heart and promised to never forget what had been given to him that day: his future.  
  
"Tenchi?" asked Ryoko as he stood up. "Are you," he cut her off before she could finish.  
  
"I'm fine. You know, everyone of you are precious to me, just incase I haven't told you lately." Every nodded in agreement as they made their way back into the house. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and the sweet smell of cherry blossoms filled the air once more. Indeed, they all knew how much they meant to one another.  
  
Epilogue:  
In the not too distant future a family celebrates the joyous occasion of a new birth. Friends and family share drink and toast the future of the child. A future made safe by actions of the greatest sacrifice. They remember that fact, and each one knows deep down that if need be, they would do it all over again. Not for themselves, but for each other.   
End Part One.  
  
Author's notes:  
Originally this was a stand-alone two-part story, but over the past semester I kept thinking about it and the possibilities of paradoxes was limitless. Part one dealt with the OVA continuum. Part two will deal with the Tenchi TV continuum, and part three will deal with the Shin Tenchi continuum, all brought together in Part four. Hang around folks; you just might enjoy the ride.   
William Nichols 


End file.
